General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Plant Height: 3-6 feet
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Time: Summer
Late summer or early fall
Fall
Uses: Culinary Herb
Dynamic Accumulator: Nitrogen fixer
P (Phosphorus)
Na (Sodium)
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Butterflies
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Suitable for wintersowing
Sow in situ
Other info: difficult to transplant , very long tap root
Pollinators: Various insects

Image
Common names
  • Fennel
  • Common Fennel
  • Bronze Fennel
  • Sweet Fennel
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Foeniculum vulgare
  • Synonym: Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce

Photo Gallery
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2020-06-27
Swallowtail caterpillar on Florence fennel growing in a galvanize
Location: Indiana  Zone 5
Date: 2010-08-03
a very good nectar source for many
Location: Blenheim New Zealand
Date: 2020-05-17
Location: My Gardens
Date: September 7, 2013
48 Inch Plant With Close-Ups Of Caterpillars Inside Branches
Photo by treehugger
Location: Barcelona, Spain |April, 2023 (uploaded. This image is much older)
Date: 2023-04-03
I think? Can't remember
Location: Home
Location: My garden, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2013-07-31
Location: all photos from my garden
Date: 2015-07-21
Location: Summerwinds Nursery Phoenix, Arizona
Date: 2016-02-08
Location: Loki Schmidt Garten - Botanischer Garten der Universität Hamburg
Date: 2022-09-13
Location: Esveld (Nursery)
Date: 2014-08-30
Location: France
Date: 2012-08-24
Location: Alcaudete - Spain
Date: 2008-04-29
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2021-04-27
New growth on an established container plant
Location: Western Kentucky
Date: Summer 2011
A lovely plant with delicate foliage
Location: All pictures taken in/on my gardens/greenhouse/property
Date: 2019-03-26
Location: Wilmington, Delaware USA
Date: 9/7/2021
ID tag says cultivar is ‘Bronze’
Location: Cherokee County Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden, Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-04-30
You can see how Bronze Fennel got its name.
Photo by SongofJoy
Location: Loki Schmidt Garten - Botanischer Garten der Universität Hamburg
Date: 2022-09-13
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01

Date: 2012-12-29
Location: Indiana zone 5
Date: 2015-06-30
Location: Botanical Garden of Copenhagen
Date: 2014-07-24
Location: Botanical Garden of Copenhagen
Date: 2014-07-24
Location: Anaheim, CA
Date: 2017-08-13
Location: my garden, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2010-06-27
Location: Tossa de Mar, Spain | April, 2023 
Date: 2023-04-04
Location: Metro Detroit
Date: 2013-09-27
Location: Asparagus garden
Date: 2015-10-16
Location: The Park - full sun garden
Date: 2014-09-27
Location: Brownstown PA 17508
Date: 2020-07-09
Photo by pphanfx

Date: 2020-04-28
Photo by finerliners
Location: Pa. Zone 6
Date: August
Location: Indiana  Zone 5
Date: late fall

Date: 2020-06-18

 Photo Courtesy of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Used with permissi
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: My garden, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2013-08-24
Location: Indiana  Zone 5
Date: 2010-03-17
newly emerging, in spring
Location: Maryland
Date: 2015-07-24

Photo: Alvesgaspar

Date: 2012-12-29
Photo by rakami

Date: 2020-06-18
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Jul 4, 2016 7:01 PM concerning plant:
    May improve eyesight. Quoting Longfellow:

    "Above the lower plants it towers,
    The fennel with its yellow flowers;
    And in an earlier age than ours
    Was gifted with the wondrous powers
    Lost vision to restore."

    On the other hand, this is a Class B noxious weed in Washington state (do not allow to spread). Fennel colonizes disturbed ground and grasslands, forms dense colonies, and out-competes natives. Hand dig or mow before it goes to seed.
  • Posted by Catmint20906 (PNW WA half hour south of Olympia - Zone 8a) on Aug 1, 2014 8:09 PM concerning plant:
    In addition to being a larval host plant for the Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Foeniculum vulgare attracts a variety of beneficial insects to the garden, including parasitic mini-wasps, hoverflies, ladybugs, and lacewings. These beneficial insects eat a variety of common garden pests including aphids, armyworms, codling moths, European corn borer, flies, gypsy moths, cabbageworms, mealybugs, soft scales, spider mites thrips, moth eggs, and small caterpillars.
  • Posted by gardengus (Indiana Zone 5b) on Apr 2, 2013 2:32 PM concerning plant:
    When planting fennel, keep it far from your dill. These two will cross pollinate.
    The dill seed will not produce a true-tasting dill plant. Best to buy fresh seed.
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Sep 22, 2014 2:21 PM concerning plant:
    Typically grown for the bronze feathery foliage, and often dead-headed before flowers form. The flowers are, however, an important host for parasitic wasps, which help to control caterpillars and aphids. To prevent rampant re-seeding, allow flowers to bloom but dead-head before the seeds mature. Fennel may be short lived, so allowing a small amount of re-seeding may be advantageous. Catch unwanted seedlings early as fennel has a long taproot and more mature plants are difficult to pull up. Looks rather ratty after a frost (the leaves just straggle down), so I cut to the ground in late fall. Some folks may be sensitive to the sap, which can cause phytophotodermatitis. If you are susceptible to this, work with this plant on overcast days wearing gloves and long sleeves.
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Feb 11, 2012 8:41 AM concerning plant:
    If you want to collect the fennel seeds, leave the flowering stalk. You can still harvest the outer leaves, but don't cut the center stalk which will bear the flowers. Watch when seeds start to turn from green to brown, and then cut the whole head and allow it to finish the ripening process in a brown paper bag. When the seeds are ripe, they will easily shake loose from the main head. Store in a dry airtight jar out of light.
  • Posted by Sharon (Calvert City, KY - Zone 7a) on Sep 25, 2011 9:05 PM concerning plant:
    Fennel is a food plant for the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, in this zone it is the Swallowtail. It also provides a faint licorice flavor and is especially good as a seasoning for baked fish.
Plant Events from our members
Catmint20906 On July 12, 2015 Bloomed
antsinmypants On May 2, 2021 Plant emerged
antsinmypants On April 27, 2021 Seeds sown
In greenhouse
paleohunter On March 27, 2021 Obtained plant
aspenhill On May 4, 2020 Obtained plant
Black Creek Greenhouse - qty 2
» Post your own event for this plant

Discussion Threads about this plant
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Wrong id? by RuuddeBlock May 8, 2023 7:13 PM 1

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